Cigar lighter



May 10, 193 c. J. LAGERHOLM CIGAR LIGHTER Filed Dec. 13. 1928llllllllllllllllllllll INVENTOR (I Wei L ATTORNEY Patented May 10, 1932NITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE CARL JULIUS LAGERHOLM, OF ATTLEBORO, -MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 EVANS CASE'GOMPANY, OF NORTH ATTLEBORO,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS CIGAR LIGHTER Applicationfiled December 13, 1928. Serial No. 325,820. v

This invention relates to lighters and the like in which a wick isignited by a shower of sparks projected from pyrophoric metal or othersuitable sparking material.

- One of the objects ofthe invention is to provide a simple, durable andcompact article of this type which is eflicient in action and easilyoperated. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereina er.

The invention accordingly consists. in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the apparatus hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims. In theaccompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possibleembodiments of this invention Fig. 1 is an enlarged side elevationpartially in section,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3- is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar views throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a fuel tank 5 which isadapted to contain the customary filling of absorbent ma terial andliquid fuel. This fuel is poured into the tank through a suitableopening as 4 in the base of the tank in the usual manner.

On the elongated top'wall 6 of the fuel tank 5 and adjacent one endthereof is a burner 7 containing a wick 8 extending downwardly for "a.substantial distance into the tank. Near its opposite end this top wallis depressed to form a relatively wide cavity 9 from which extendsinwardly a narrower cavity orslot 10. The top wall may be formed 0 castmetal. 4 K

Amanually operable actuating member 11 is 'pivotally mounted as at 12 inoppositely disposed webs 13 on the top wall. This member is hollow inform with its under face open. j The portion 14 of the men iben isadapted to swing downwardly into the cavity 9 substantially as indicatedin dot in Fig. 1 when such member is manually pressed in the vicinity of15. This raises the opposite end portion16 likewise to the pdsitionindicated in" dot in such figure and within this end portion is formed asnufler 17 or cap adapted to. fit closely over the burner 7. A spring 18acts between the inner wall of the cavity 9 and the outer end of theportion of the actuating member with its intermediate portion loopingthe pivot 12 to cause this member to be normally held in the positionindicated in solid lines in F ig- 1 with the snufi'er 17 pressing on theburner.

The ignition mechanism comprises an abrasive wheel 19, a ratchet 20secured thereto, atoothed arm 21 and a cylindrical piece of pyrophoricmetal 22. The wheel 19 and ratchet 20 are revoluble on a shaft 23 havingits ends mounted in the corresponding supports 13. The side walls of themember 11 are slotted as at 25a from their bottom edge upwardly asufficient distance to permit the member to drop'over this shaft 23. Thearm 21 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 24 jour- 4 naled in the oppositeside walls 25 of the mom ber 11 and yieldingly pressed against theratchet 20 by a suitable spring as 26. The i pyrophoric. metal 22 isslidable in a tube 27 extending through the tank and is inserted intosuch tube through the usual opening as 28 in the bottom wall 29. Thismetal is forced against the peripheryof the wheel 19 by a suitablespring 30 in such tube. The

arm 21 in the normal position of the member 11 projects into the cavity10' provided to receive it and the lower. portion thereof swing stherein as such member is actuated to raise the snuifer and ignite the.burner.

In the operation of the device the member 11 is manually pressed in themanner described. This' swings the portion 16 of this member upwardly toopen position, lifting the snuifer from the burner and drawmgupwardlythe toothed arm '21. The upward movement of the arm 21 causes theratchet 20 to rotate and to correspondinglyrotate the abrasive wheel;The initial movement of the meinber is relatively slow due to thedirection of the pressure relative to the pivot 12 but as this movementprogresses and the snufier is lifted from the burner an acceleration orwhat may be called a snap action takes place due to increase of theleverage and this rapid rotation of the wheel causes a shower of sparksto be projected from the pyrophoric metal 22, igniting the burner wick.Upon release of the'actuating member, the spring 18 returns this memberto its normal or closed position, placing the shutter on the burner andextinguishing the Wick. The form of the teeth on the toothed arm and theyielding pressure of the spring 26 permit this arm to slide over theteeth on the ratchet without causing the ratchet to revolve during thereturn movement.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that there isprovided: a devicein which the various objects of this invention areachieved and that the same is well adapted to meet the hardestconditions of practical use.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and asmany changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is tobe understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or'shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having an elongated top wall, a relatively wide cavity formed insaid wall adjacent one end thereof, a relatively narrow cavity in saidwall extending fromsaid wide cavity toward the opposite end of the wall,a burner on said wall adjacent said opposite end, amanually operableactuating lever member revolubly mounted on a shaft supported by saidtank above said top wall and adapted to have one end. portion thereofdepressed into said wide cavity when said portion is manually pressed, asnuffer at the opposite end of said lev'er'fitting over said burner whensaid lever' is in closed position, an abrasive wheel journaled on saidtank adjacent said burner, a ratchet operatively connected to saidwheel, a toothed arm pivotally mounted on said lever adjacent saidsnufi'er and projecting into said narrow cavity when said leveris inclosed position,-

said arm being yieldingly held in operative relation with said ratchet,a pyrophoric element co-operatmg with said wheel, and a spring actingbetween the under face of said lever and the inner wall of said widecavity and enveloping the shaft forming the axis of said lever tonormally maintain said lever in closed position.

2. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having a cavity in one wall thereof, a burner on said wall, anabrasive wheel adjacent said burner, a pyrophoric element cooperatingwith .said

wheel, a snufier for said burner, a box-like manually operable actuatingmember for said rotated, and a spring acting between a well of thecavity and said member to normally maintain said snuffer on said burner,portions of said member forming a housing to substantially enclose saidspring, and to substantially close the cavity when in normal position.

3. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having a cavity in the top wall thereof, a burner on said wall, anabrasive wheel journaled on said wall adjacent said burner, apyrophoric-element cooperating with said wheel, a manually operablesnuifer arm journaled on said tank on an axis relatively remote fromsaid burner and adapted to have a portion thereof swing downwardly intosaid cavity, a snuffer on said arm, a ratchet wheel operativelyconnected to said abrasive wheel, and a toothed arm carried by saidsnuffer arm and yieldingly pressed into engagement with said abrasivewheel adjacent said burner, a pyro-' phoric member cooperating with saidwheel, a

manually operable member having a finger piece portion which whendepressed rotates said wheel to throw sparks on said burner, thedepressible portion of said manually operable member being box-like inconstruction, and guard portions included in saiddepressible portion soformed as to substantially seal said cavity from foreign matter in allpositions thereof, the area of the finger piece portion beingsubstantially the same as the area delined by the guard portions.

' 5. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fuel.tank having an elongated top wall, a burner on said wall, an abrasivewheel journaled near one end of said tank adjacent said burner,.a tubeextending through said tank and terminating below said abrasive wheel,pyrophoric metal in said tube, a spring in said tube urging saidpyrophoric metal into engagement with said wheel a ratchet wheel havingperipheral teeth affixed to said abrasive wheel, a snufi'er memberjournaled on an axis located on the other side of said wheel from saidburner a portion of which when depressed raises the snufiing part ofsaid member, an arcuate multi-toothed pawl arm j ournaled on ahorizontal axis onto teeth of the ratchet wheel to rotate said wheelwhen said snuiiing portion is raised at'a substantially greater angularvelocity and through a substantially greater angular distance than andin the same angular direction as said snuifer thereby obtaining a a hotspark, the teeth of the pawl arm and the ratchet wheel slidinginoperatively over each other when the snntling portion descends.

6. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having a cavity in one wall thereof, a burner on said wall, anabrasive wheel adjacent said burner, a pyrophoric element cooperatingwith said wheel, a snutier for said burner, a box-like manually operableactuating member for said snufier and said wheel journaled on said tankand substantially at thetop of said cavity to swing downwardly into saidcavity to cause said snuffer to be raised and said wheel to be rotated,and a spring acting between a wall of the cavity and said member tonormally maintain said snuffer on said burner, portions of said memberforming ahousing to substantially enclose said spring, and tosubstantially close the cavity when in normal position.

7. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having a cavity in the top wall thereof, a burner on said wall, anabrasive wheel journaled on said wall adjacent said burner, a pyrophoricelement cooperating with said wheel, a manually operable snuffer armjournaled on said tank on an axis relatively remote from said burnerhaving a flat topped box-like portion with depending sides and front, asnutler ca at one end of said flat topped portion an received within thedepending sides and front, a portion of said snuffer arm extending theother side of its journal from the snuffer cap and adapted to swingdownwardly into said cavity to raise the snuifer cap, a ratchet wheeloperatively connected to said abrasive wheel, and a toothed arm carriedby said snuffer arm and yieldingly pressed into engagement incombination, a fuel tank havin an elongated top wall and a cavity in saiwall extending into the fuel tank, a burner on said wall, a pair ofupstanding spaced webs one on each side of said cavity, an abrasivewheel adjacent said burner and rotatably supported by said spaced webs,a pyrophoric element underneath and cooperating with said wheel, asnuffer for said burner, a box-like manually operable. actuating membercarrying said snutler at one end thereof and journaled on a shaftextending between said webs and shaped to cover over said cavity andsaid wheel, unidirectional driving mechanism between said actuatingmember and said wheel including an arcuate toothed member connected toand moved by said actuating member and extending in one position ofsaidactuating member into said cavity, and a spring acting upon saidactuating member to normally maintain saidsnuifer on said burner andsaid actuating member in covering position over said wheel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification thisfifth day of December, 1928.

CARL JULIUS LAGERHOLM.

with said ratchet wheel to'cause said abrasive wheel to be rotated asthe snuflfer arm isv moved to raised position.

8. In construction for lighters and the like, in combination, a fueltank having a. cavity in the top wall thereof, a burner on said wall, anabrasive wheel adjacent said burner, a pyrophoric member cooperatingwith said wheel, a manually operable member having a finger pieceportion positioned to be depressed into said cavity and which whendepressed rotates said wheel to throw sparks on said burner, thedepressible portion of said manually operable member being box-like inconstruction and guard portions included in said depressible portion soformed as to fit within said cavity and to -substantially seal saidcavity from foreign matter in all positions thereof, the area of thefinger piece portion being substantiallythe same as the area defined bythe guard portions.

9. In construction for lighters and the like,

